Pulled the bottom bracket out of the OCR to figure out why its noisy. Cant find anything particular wrong with it, might be movement between the BB housing and the covers that hold it in place. I'll clean and grease everything and put it back in and see what happens.

europa wrote:In what way is it noisy? It could just be that you've worn the poor thing out. If you've had water in there you might have grit in there causing a grinding noise.

Richard

It's squeaked ever since it was band new, squirting some oil in each side seemed to stop the problem temporarily and after a while you got use to the noise and ignored it. But it irritates other riders. Basically its a fault with that particular model, as I've seen it reported time and time again.

I had a similar problem with a Power Pro BB, I just took it down to the LBS and purchased a new equivalent Shimano one for about $30.00. Of course the most impartant measurement is never on the bracket and that is the width of the thing from end to end, thats why you take the old one in(or measure it) when purchasing the new one.

ez wrote:I had a similar problem with a Power Pro BB, I just took it down to the LBS and purchased a new equivalent Shimano one for about $30.00. Of course the most impartant measurement is never on the bracket and that is the width of the thing from end to end, thats why you take the old one in(or measure it) when purchasing the new one.

Ez.

$30 is a bargain, can't get them that cheap mail order.

I suspect that "Power Pro BB" = <something I'd better not type>

I think its 113mm, based on the stampings. It is a triple and they are a little wider.

Of more interest is that the thread on the (right) drive side is part of the unit rather than being a separate component, so the unit is fixed in better. On the (left) non drive side, there's a plastic threaded cup - interesting. BTW the bolts are going to be chucked they are simply hex bolts, I'll use the exisiting allen key ones with rubber washers, I've had nothing but trouble with hex bolts in the past.

I think that Mike should be OK - there are 109, 113 and 115 'length' bottom brackets and (I think) they are for dual chain ring (road), triple chain ring (road) and triple chain ring (mtb) respectively.
ps. after another check, the UN26 comes in lots of other lengths too.

OK after a mammoth effort I have fixed the squeak. Those of you who have ridden with me know what squeak I'm talking about.

1. Put the new BB in. Test ride - the squeaks still there UH!!!!!! OK, it still squeaks if I stand and it still squeaks if I ride no hands, it only squeaks when I pedal. I fix 2 other known squeaks, that being the seat post and the other being the steam, just to make sure that their noise is not confusing the issue.

2. Swap the pedals. Still squeaks. mmm, it might be a broken frame.

3. Inspect the frame carefully. No visible cracks. Can't be the cleats, as the don't squeak on the beast and the squeak has survived 2 pairs of pedals.

4. Ride with no shoes on, just to prove its not the cleats. OK whats left, it only happens with pedalling, only the chain and the rear wheel left.

5. Pull the rear wheel out, take off the cassette, try in vain to get to the sealed bearings. Grease the skewer. Put engine oil on every possible crack and seal. Reassemble and test. AND VOLA, the squeak has gone.

BTW, I don't feel bad about replacing the BB, it was crap from day one and had squeaking problems from day one (different rear wheel in those days), its done a stack of K's and was probably long in the tooth.

If that's the case, then is it possible that the rear hub bearing is shot? A bit of engine oil may be just temporary. Well, just glad that you've sorted it all out. Maybe there's a new wheel in the near future. Anyway, can now look forward to riding next to you again.

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